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An important parameter of Josephson junctions (JJs) is the product of normal state resistance (R n) and critical current (I c) for designing superconductor analogue devices or digital circuits. Determination of R n and I c from voltage–current (U–I) characteristic curves often faces difficulties; in particular I c is considerably reduced by intrinsic thermal or extrinsic electrical noises. Here, we propose a standard measurement method of R n and intrinsic critical current (I ci) for high-T c superconductor (HTS) grain boundary JJs operated in liquid nitrogen and low-T c superconductor (LTS) multilayer superconductor/normal-conductor/superconductor (SNS) JJs in liquid helium. The applicable condition of this method is that both HTS and LTS JJs have U–I curves compatible with resistively-shunted junction (RSJ) model. Both R n and I ci values are extracted by combining a geometric mean criterion to select a data set and a least-squares fitting method with the RSJ model, eliminating two distortion effects on U–I curves: noise-rounding and self-heating. The combined method ensures relative standard uncertainty values of 1.9% for R n and 8% for I ci or better, when the users follow the standard protocol. It is demonstrated that the combined method is valid for d-wave HTS JJs near 77 K, regardless of peculiarities such as 0–π junction transition in d-wave superconductors at lower temperatures, and s-wave LTS SNS JJs with a wide range of junction parameters. This work is the first step to facilitate standardization for superconductor electronics with JJs.

Background Few studies have assessed associations of non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity (NEAC) in the overall diet with all-cause or specific mortality, and their results have been inconsistent. Objectives The present study investigated the association between dietary NEAC and all-cause or cause-specific mortality. Methods The study was a large-scale population-based prospective cohort study in Japan consisting of 42,520 men and 50,207 women aged 44-76 y, who had no history of cancer, stroke, ischemic heart disease, or chronic liver disease. We evaluated FFQ-based dietary NEAC with use of published databases in which the NEACs of individual foods were analyzed by ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assays. Dietary NEAC was calculated by multiplying the estimated NEAC with the consumed amount and summing up those values for all foods, and was categorized in quartiles. We identified death and cause of death with use of residential registry and death certificates. HRs and 95% Cls for death from the second survey, which was conducted from April 1995 to December 2014 were estimated with Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. Results After 1,498,308 person-years of follow-up, 12,978 total deaths occurred. The multivariable-adjusted HRs (95% Cls) for all-cause mortality for the highest compared with the lowest quartile of FRAP and ORAC were 0.85 (0.80, 0.89) and 0.84 (0.79, 0.89), respectively. Dietary NEACs were inversely associated with mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD), but not from cancer. The multivariable-adjusted HRs (95% Cls) for CVD for the highest compared with the lowest quartile of FRAP and ORAC were 0.83 (0.75, 0.92) and 0.79 (0.70, 0.89), respectively. Conclusions Higher dietary NEACs from FRAP and ORAC were associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality and mortality from CVD in Japanese adults.

The outcomes of treatment for women with recurrent or advanced epithelial ovarian carcinoma previously treated with pacli- taxel plus platinum-based chemotherapy were analyzed.Retrospective analysis was performed in a total of 65 series of treatments provided for 35 patients with a history of paclitaxel plus platinum-based chemotherapy. The chemotherapy regimens used were classified into the following four types for analysis: conventional paclitaxel plus carboplatin therapy (TC arm), pegylated liposomal doxorubicin-containing regimens (PLD arm), CPT-11-containing regimens (CPT-11 arm), and others. Disease-control rates (DCRs) were compared and subjected to univariate analysis. Progression-free survival (PFS) was determined from the date of the first cycle of each chemotherapy with the Kaplan-Meier method, and comparisons were performed using the log-rank test.DCR was 80%, 71%, and 26% for the TC, PLD, and CPT-l arms, respectively. The median PFS was 286, 372, and 76 days for the TC, PLD, and CPT-11 arms, respectively. There was no discernible difference in PFS between the TC and the PLD arm. In contrast, PFS of the CPT- 11 arm was significantly shorter than that of the TC and PLD arms. In addition, three of seven (42.9%) treatments in the PLD arm maintained a progression-free period for longer than one year, while only one of 25 (4%) treatments in the TC arm maintained a progression-free period for more than one year.The PFS of PLD is similar to that of TC. PLD-containing regimens might have a potential benefit with a higher PFS over one year than the TC regimen.

Thalamic chronotaraxis is an isolated disorientation of time caused by the damage of thalamus, especially the mediodorsal nucleus. We performed interval timing trials on a patient with this phenomenon. Based on the results of those trials and compared to the previous reports, thalamic chronotaraxis of our case might be due to the disfunction of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex caused by the right thalamic infarction. Keywords: Thalamic chronotaraxis, Interval timing, Mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus, Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate the technical and clinical efficacy and safety of CT-guided hookwire marking before video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for small pulmonary lesions. Materials and Methods This procedure was performed on 161 lesions in 154 patients (75 men and 79 women; median age, 62 years; age range 23–89 years). Medical records and images were reviewed, and the technical success rate, surgical success rate and complications were evaluated. Technical success was defined as successful hookwire marking at the target site without marker dropping before VATS. Surgical success was defined as negative surgical margins on pathological examination after VATS. Results There were 97 nodules and 64 ground-glass opacities, and their mean size was 9.8 mm (range 2–34). The technical success rate was 97.5% (157/161). In three of the four failed cases, another hookwire marker was placed, and in the remaining case, VATS was performed without a marker. The surgical success rate was 98.1% (158/161). In the three failed cases, the margin was positive, so lung lobectomy was performed in one case, and the other two cases were observed carefully. Complication rates were as follows: pneumothorax, 37.9% (61/161); focal intrapulmonary haemorrhage, 34.8% (58/139); haemoptysis, 0.6% (1/161); haemothorax, 0% (0/161); air embolism, 0.6% (1/161); dissemination, 0% (0/161); and death, 0% (0/161). Conclusion CT-guided hookwire marking appears to be useful for VATS, but the procedure may, although rarely, cause severe complications such as air embolism.

Permalloy is used in a magnetically shielded room to inhibit the penetration of external magnetic field, etc. The flux density in permalloy used in the shielded room is of the order of a few mT or lower. In order to examine the performance of such a shielded room, the dc magnetic properties at low flux density is necessary. In this paper, we developed a measurement method of dc (5 mHz) magnetic properties of permalloy under such a low flux density. It is shown that the dc magnetic properties could be measured more than 4 mT by paying the attention to the degaussing of specimen and applying the correction of drift and offset of measurement system.

The issue of design of motor core is that the estimated iron losses and measured ones are sometimes different. One of the causes is the magnetic deterioration of electrical steel sheet by bolt bundles, etc. We measured the magnetic properties when the compressive stress in thickness direction is impressed on the nonoriented electrical steel sheet. In this paper, magnetic properties of ring, semicircular ring, strip of nonoriented electrical steel sheet under the compressive stress in thickness direction are measured. The different behavior of magnetic properties of various specimens are discussed. It is shown that the iron loss of semicircular ring specimen can be reduced under compressive stress.

From the viewpoint of a cryogen-free high-field superconducting magnet, the thermal stability properties of YBa2Cu3O7 (Y123) coated conductor tapes before thermal runaway are examined under the conduction-cooling condition by a GM-cryocooler. Under such cryocooling condition, Ag-sheathed Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 (Bi2212) wires with Jc ~ 104 A/cm2 reveal stable behaviors of 3 times larger current properties before thermal runaway than critical currents, although conventional Nb3Sn wires with Jc ~ 104 A/cm2 quench almost at their critical currents under the cryocooling condition. In order to determine the maximum current-carrying capacity of the Y123 tape in high fields, we use a zero-dimensional heat balance model. On the basis of the measured basic properties for the Y123 tape, the calculations were done at B=20 T, bath temperature T0=4.2 K, Jc ~ 107 A/cm2, and cryocooling heat transfer coefficient h=10-3 W/cm2K. We found that the Y123 tape with Jc ~ 107 A/cm2 does not have the over-critical current but rather the sub-critical current before thermal runaway.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate acute toxicity of craniospinal irradiation (CSI) using helical tomotherapy (HT) and compare its dose distribution with that of conventional linac-based plans. Twelve patients with various brain tumors were treated with HT-CSI. Median patient age was 14 years (range: 4–37 years). Median CSI dose was 30.6 Gy in 18 fractions (range: 23.4–40 Gy in 13–25 fractions). Toxicities were assessed according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0. Before CSI, 11 patients (92%) received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, so acute toxicity was evaluated by comparing patient status before and after CSI. HT-CSI plans were compared with linac-based CSI plans made using Pinnacle3 planning system in 9 patients. All patients completed planned CSI without interruption. Grade 3 or higher toxicities were leukopenia seen in 11 patients (92%), anorexia in 6 (50%), anemia in 5 (42%), and thrombopenia in 5 (42%). Administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, platelet transfusion and total parenteral nutrition were required in 8 (67%), 5 (42%) and 5 (42%) patients, respectively. HT plans were superior to linac-based plans in terms of homogeneity and conformality in planning target volume (PTV). For most organs at risk (OARs), volumes receiving more than 10 Gy (V10 Gy) or 20 Gy (V20 Gy) were lower in HT plans. However, HT plans significantly increased mean doses to the lung, kidneys and liver, and V5 Gy of 6 OARs including the lung. Despite intensive neoadjuvant chemotherapy, acute toxicity of HT-CSI was acceptable. HT provided better dose distribution in PTV than conventional linac. In most OARs, smaller volumes received >10–20 Gy in HT plans, although larger volumes received 5–10 Gy.

This essay is a critical analysis of the work of Frank Matsura, a Japanese immigrant photographer whose epistemological framework and, in many ways, visual rhetoric depart from the established canon of frontier photography, and the dominant ideas of the American West it promoted. Matsura's work merits greater scholarly attention, I argue, for the epistemological importance of its alternative vision of late frontier society, particularly with regard to its unique, complex and sensitive representation of Native Americans' continuing survival, adaptation, and resistance. Toward this effort, the essay identifies and appraises the larger discursive patterns that characterize his photography: his "commercial aesthetic" both of developing industries and of unpeopled, "timeless" natural photography; and his locally-specific and historicized visual rhetoric, more critically resistant to dominant commercial and ideological modes of representation.

The time profile of recombination luminescence of dense xenon gas irradiated by an α -particle was absolutely measured in the density range of 0.027 – 0.112 g / cm 3 with the aim to investigate the intensities of recombination luminescence at zero electric field. It was found that the number of scintillation photons due to the recombination luminescence increases with xenon density up to around 0.05 g / cm 3 , and then becomes nearly constant ( = 2.32 × 10 5 photons for an α -particle with 5.49 MeV). The probability of recombination between electrons and ions at zero electric field is about 88% in the density range of 0.05 – 0.112 g / cm 3 . It was also found that the percentage of slow component ( ∼ sub-milliseconds) in the recombination luminescence decreases with density from 73% to 33% in the density range from 0.027 to 0.112 g / cm 3 .

Imaging of γ rays with 1–5 MeV with a xenon time projection chamber (Xe-TPC) has been simulated with the GEANT4 code. The clear image of a γ-ray source was obtained using the Xe-TPC. The dependence of angular resolution and imaging efficiency on xenon density were also investigated over the density range from 0.06 to 0.18 g/cm 3 . It was found that a Xe-TPC is promising for imaging of high-energy γ-rays (∼5 MeV) on planetary surface.

The prognosis of localized extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKTL), has improved with the development of chemoradiotherapy. However, conventional extended-field radiotherapy may cause optic disorders. Our group has employed smaller radiation fields in an attempt to avoid toxicity. The efficacy and toxicity of treatments were evaluated. Chemoradiotherapy was delivered with a shrinking-field radiotherapy strategy. The endpoints of this study were overall survival (OS), local control (LC), progression-free survival (PFS), and toxicity. Fifteen patients with localized ENKTL were treated. After irradiation (median, 40 Gy) to the tumor plus a prophylactic volume, a reduced treatment volume to the tumor was boosted (median, 10 Gy). Twelve patients underwent chemoradiotherapy and 3 patients received radiotherapy alone. A complete response was achieved in 12 and a partial response in 3 patients. The 5-year OS, PFS, and LC rates were 80, 67, and 93 %, respectively. Distant recurrence occurred in 4 patients and locoregional and distant recurrence in 1 patient. Cataract (grade 3) and dry eye (grade 2) were observed as late adverse events in 1 patient each. Sufficiently high OS and LC were achieved with acceptable toxicities. Appropriate target volumes may be smaller with newer chemotherapy regimens.

The scintillation response to an α source (241Am) and the ionization yield in pure gaseous xenon and its mixtures with 0.2–2% of methane were measured at a pressure of 26 atm and different values of reduced electric field E/N. Both light and ionization yields in xenon were shown to decrease with increasing percentage of methane.

Purpose: The prognostic significance of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) level in central nervous system germinoma remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to compare clinical characteristics and prognosis of germinoma patients with normal and high HCG titers in the serum. Methods and Materials: We undertook a multi-institutional retrospective analysis of 103 patients with central nervous system germinoma whose serum HCG and/or β-HCG level had been measured before treatment between 1984 and 2002. All patients had been treated with radiation therapy either alone ( n = 66) or in combination with chemotherapy ( n = 37) with a median dose of 47.8 Gy. Results: HCG and/or β-HCG level in the serum was high in 39% of all patients. The proportion of HCG-producing tumors was higher in the lesions at the basal ganglia than in the lesions at the other sites. No correlation was found between tumor size and HCG level, but there seemed to be a weak correlation between size and β-HCG. The 5- and 10-year survival rates were 96% and 94%, respectively, in both patient groups with normal and high HCG ( p = 0.99). The 5- and 10-year relapse-free survival rates were 87% and 82%, respectively, in patients with normal HCG level and were both 87% in patients with high HCG ( p = 0.74). Also, no other patient-, tumor-, or treatment-related factors seemed to influence the prognosis of the patients. Conclusion: Serum HCG level does not seem to influence patient prognosis when treated with sufficient doses of radiation. Relationship between tumor size and site and HCG level should be investigated further.

Bi/sub 2/Sr/sub 2/Ca/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub x/ (hereinafter referred as Bi-2223) transposed segment conductors were developed for high-T/sub c/ superconducting power cables. As the conductors have good mechanical, electrical and thermal properties, the conductor has applicability for other application. So, we have been developing a solenoid coil with Bi-2223 transposed segment conductor. The fabricated coil with the conductor was demonstrated successfully to transport AC current. The performance test results indicate that the conductor is suitable for the coils of pulse or AC application, especially SMES coils.

The paper presents an improved method for evaluating antenna performance in a multipath propagation environment. It demonstrates, theoretically and experimentally, that by using polarization and phase terms of the incident field and the antenna system in the evaluation of the antenna effective gain (AEG), the AEG can be evaluated more efficiently as compared with the conventional method. First, a theoretical expression of the received power is given by using the open-circuit voltage at the antenna terminals, in which both the polarization and the phase of the incident field and antenna gain patterns are explicitly used. Secondly, a newly developed system for the measurement of field parameters, such as polarization and phase as well as amplitude, is introduced. Thirdly, incident field parameters measured in urban and suburban areas of Tokyo are described. It was confirmed that major incident waves were counted in up to five or six directions at a mobile terminal and their polarizations and phases were different depending on the direction of incidence. Also, measurement of the antenna gain patterns of the latest personal digital cellular handset at a talk position finds the dependence of the AEG on polarization and phase, which were significantly varied by the body effect. Finally, the AEG is evaluated based on the method introduced here, and its usefulness is compared with that of the conventional method.

To achieve compact and highly efficient HTS power transmission cables, reducing and evaluating AC losses is important. Furukawa is developing conductors with low AC losses of 1 W/m at 3000 Arms for the 66/77 kV class HTS cables as a part of the Super-ACE project. Specifically, we aim to achieve a superconducting conductor with minimum AC losses by optimizing the winding pitches and twisted filaments in the tape. The electrical method is generally used to evaluate AC losses in HTS cables. However, measures of AC losses were uncertain using only the electrical method of evaluation. Therefore, the calorimetric device was developed and was used for determining AC losses. Consequently, results from the two methods almost agreed. Moreover, AC losses in the fabricated HTS conductors were measured at the lowest levels ever achieved.

The surface-oxidation-epitaxy (SOE) method promotes simple and cost-effective process to form a biaxially textured NiO template for epitaxial growth of YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub x/ (Y-Ba-Cu-O) film. SOE tapes of 100 m in length were prepared by the reel-to-reel oxidation system with the tape moving speed of 10 m/h. A highly biaxially textured NiO layer, which had /spl Delta//spl phi/ (full width at half maximum from X-ray /spl phi/-scan) of less than 23/spl deg/ throughout the whole length, was successfully formed under appropriate conditions of temperature and atmosphere. In order to improve surface conditions for obtaining high critical current density (J/sub c/) for Y-Ba-Cu-O film on the SOE-tapes, we have investigated the effect of thin oxide cap layers such as MgO, SrTiO/sub 3/, CeO/sub 2/, and so on. When BaZrO/sub 3/ was used as a cap layer, J/sub c/ and critical current (I/sub c/) of Y-Ba-Cu-O films grown by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at 77 K were measured to be 1.3 MA/cm/sup 2/ and 137 A, respectively. These values were for a 10 mm-width short tape. A continuous deposition of YBCO on 10-cm long /spl times/10-mm wide SOE tape with SrTiO/sub 3/ or BaZrO/sub 3/ cap layer was also investigated. The end-to-end I/sub c/ was 1 A (J/sub c/ of 1.6 /spl times/10/sup 4/ A/cm/sup 2/) for SrTiO/sub 3/ cap layer and 4 A (J/sub c/ of 5.6 /spl times/10/sup 4/ A/cm/sup 2/) for BaZrO/sub 3/ one.

We report a patient who exhibited transient palinopsia and visual hallucinations. Disturbances initially included an auditory component and increasingly were localized to the left visual field. These events occurred during recovery from a right subcortical hematoma with left homonymous hemianopia. Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) demonstrated extensive perilesional hyperperfusion involving parts of the right parietal, temporal, and occipital cortex. Perilesional hyperperfusion disappeared as the visual abnormalities diminished. We believe that excitatory neuronal activation in perilesional cortex during recovery contributed importantly to the transient abnormal perceptions.

Summary We hypothesised that an in-vivo adjustment method and/or a newer sensor would increase the accuracy of non-invasive and continuous haemoglobin monitoring (SpHb) measurements. Two sensors, the R1-25 and R2-25a (the newer version), were used with laboratory total haemoglobin concentration (tHb) values simultaneously recorded. In-vivo adjusted SpHb (AdHb) was calculated by a simple formula: AdHb = SpHb � (1 st SpHb � 1 st tHb). The correlation coefficients between SpHb (or AdHb) and tHb were compared: SpHb in both sensors correlated strongly with tHb (p < 0.0001). In-vivo adjustment improved the correlation coefficient between SpHb and tHb from 0.86 to 0.95 for the R1-25 and from 0.83 to 0.93 for the R2-25a. There was no difference between the R1-25 and R2-25a sensors. The in vivo adjustment method improved the accuracy of SpHb measurements in both sensors.

Effects of high-temperature annealing conditions on minority-carrier-lifetime variation have been investigated for multicrystalline Si wafers. Lifetime recovery peaks appear obviously at temperatures over 1000°C for the multicrystalline Si wafers, which is the same as for FZ and CZ single wafers. Bulk lifetimes degrade after a further long-time annealing in oxygen. This suggests that there exists the filling of vacancies with interstitial Si atoms generated at the Si surfaces during high-temperature annealing.

Minority-carrier lifetimes in FZ-p Si wafers were evaluated at various thermal treatments to investigate the effect of the recombination centers. Bulk lifetimes became longer in the case of annealing in O 2 ambient at around 1000°C, while it decreased drastically in N 2 and Ar ambients. Both N 2 annealing sample and oxidation sample after N 2 annealing were measured using deep level transient spectroscopy. Deep levels related to nitrogen defect were observed for the N 2 annealing sample. However, no deep level was observed for the oxidation samples. These results suggest that recombination of minority carriers in the bulk occurred at deep levels related to the nitrogen-vacancy complex.